Care4Kids will now allow new families to apply. Providers are encouraged to tell families to apply as quickly as possible.

The OEC will closely monitor the program and add eligible families to Care4Kids as long as funding is available.

While renewed availability of Care4Kids is good news, it is important to keep the re-opening of the program and funding in context. The duration of the closure caused many family home providers, classrooms, and several centers to reduce staff or close. It will be difficult to re-build our childcare infrastructure back to its former level. In addition, many of the parents who were put on the wait list had to choose between substandard care and not working.

To see how the closure specifically affected your town, use this interactive map and the interactive map below to compare town by town data, from November 2016 to November 2017. The map also is able to compare by age group and care setting.

What you can do:

CAHS will send out alerts when we become aware of further threats to the program. Meanwhile, if you are concerned about Care4Kids you can call your legislator at these numbers: